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Thanks, Michelle!

Last Monday, a week ago today, I got my Swap on A Budget package for round 6. My “spoiler” was Michelle from Iowa, alias Chillyfreetoes, who says she chose her name because her feet are always cold and she loves Chilly Fritos.

The beret pattern and 3 skeins of yarn in turquoise, blue and grey. The grey is alpaca.

In round 5, “Chilly,” as I call her, was one of the last 2 people waiting to receive a package, so I finally offered to be her angel, even though I’d already been a spoiler and an angel to other people in that round. MissBecca, the person who started Swap on a Budget, stepped in on Chilly’s behalf and relieved me from having to do it, but I think she figured that Chilly and I should be connected in this round, so she made Chilly my secret spoiler.

Chilly is one to choose quality over quantity, so she chose carefully and this is what she sent.

First, she found me a pattern for a lacy beret, probably because I said I wanted to make one for my sister-in-law. Then she sent me 3 yarns to use for it, a cotton-acrylic blend in a tweedy turquoise, a grey alpaca and a blue acrylic ribbon yarn. All are very pretty. I’ll put the grey alpaca with other alpaca yarns in my stash and the blue ribbon yarn with some similar lavendar yarn in my stash. I’ll probably make the beret with the cotton/acrylic blend.

Velvet gift bag and handmade soap.

Then, she gave me some handmade soap in a beautiful velvet gift bag.

And she also gave me some “healthy snack” recipes that she downloaded from helpful sites like WeightWatchers.com.

Finally, she gave me some almonds dusted in dark chocolate that are really yummy. I’ve been munching on them all week, and they’re pretty much gone.

Thanks, Michelle. Sorry it took me so long to post the photos. In fact, I put everything away because my son was coming home for Christmas, and I had to run around the house and find everything in order to write this post.

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About the author

Pam MacKenzie
Our real estate editor, Pam MacKenzie, expresses her creative side in this blog about knitting. Pam learned to knit at age 6, when her friend’s mother made Pam’s doll a dress, and Pam wanted to make more. Her mother wanted her to learn how to sew in high school, but she was afraid of the sewing machines, cutting fabric the wrong way, and the potential that sewing would have for bringing down her grade-point average. Every year, she managed to find a course conflict to avoid sewing classes. But the day after high school graduation, she took her graduation money to a fabric store, bought a kit to make a sweater, taught herself to read patterns and never looked back. These days, she knits a prayer shawl every month, along with sweaters, tote bags, gift bags and other goodies. She also designs many of her projects. Read More About PamE-mail Pam